Saying Goodbye
→ travelingmonk.com

Today I went around Vrindavan to say goodbye to all my friends and everything that inspired me during my 5 week visit here. I paid a special visit to the Samadhi of Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami. I’ll be back in India in two weeks to begin preparations for our second Gujarat festival tour which will [...]

Content, Links, And Social Media
→ Gita Coaching

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Content, Links, And Social Media
→ Gita Coaching

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More Tips On Writing
→ NY Times & Bhagavad Gita Sanga/ Sankirtana Das



“In the late summer of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains.”  - Hemingway’s first sentence of  A Farewell to Arms (1929)

We should never lose sight that stories are constructed with words and sentences. Good writing not only conveys an image, advances the story, but also has  elements of poetry and symmetry.  In the above sentence, Hemingway offers us not only the beginning of a story, but  alliteration (late, lived, looked), consonance at the end of words (summer, year river),  and repetition (in a house in a village).  Having been involved in theater and the spoken word for so many years, the selection of words are important to me, not just by what they mean, but also by how they sound and their relation to other words in a sentence.  I try to think of the words to my stories as being spoken.  After all, a finely designed sentence and the texture of words offers another dimension to the reading.  The words take flight.  They are active. The listener will bathe in a cascade of refreshing words.


* * * * *

I read time and again many authors have the habit of  keeping books that inspire them close at hand while writing their own book. It seems it's an open secret: read books that will jump start the way you want to use words and structure sentences and that will help you move your writing in the direction you want.

* * * * *

One of the best ways to edit yourself is to read the text aloud, stopping to make notations when something doesn’t sound right. Also, always have a good dictionary and thesaurus on hand, for as Mark Twain said, 'The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.'

Check out site below for more Tips On Writing

At this time of year people are naturally thinking about gifts for the holidays. FREE shipping in USA for my book, Mahabharata: The Eternal Quest has been extended until the end of the year. 1 Book – $16; 2 Books – $32; 3 Books – ONLY $45; 5 Books ONLY $70] For more info and Tips On Writing check out my site www.Mahabharata-Project.com  where you can find a link to order through Paypal OR you can order directly from me at story108@juno.com

Be a preacher
→ KKSBlog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 2011, Helsinki, Finland)

book distributionIn preaching, we should not throw Krsna consciousness like a ton of bricks on people’s heads and all at once tell them, “You have to follow everything!” and then runaway, never to be seen again. No, preaching means that we have to be sensitive, depending on which stage a person is at, and offer them the next step – that is preaching!

There is no stereotype lesson for everyone. No, each person is at some level and the preacher has to check them out partially by asking some questions and by being sensitive, try to give the person the next step to take.

About book distribution, Vaiseshika said interesting things, “When we take members of the congregation out on book distribution for the first time, usually I tell them that for the first three times they are not allowed to distribute any books! They can only watch but anybody, who is a little bit of a natural, ignores those instructions and starts distributing books! The ones who are shy, they feel secure with these instructions. It is authorized now for them to watch three times and they don’t feel pressurized.”

So I thought it was intelligent. It gives people the next step!

 

Content, Links, And Social Media
→ Gita Coaching

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Content, Links, And Social Media
→ Gita Coaching

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Tulasi Vivaha Sydney
→ Ramai Swami

TulsiShaligramVivah01Tulsi_Vivah_1

Tulasi Vivaha is a famous festival where it is said that tulasi devi, in this world in the form of a plant, marries Krsna, in the form of Saligram Sila.

 Briefly, the story is that tulasi took birth as the daughter of Madhavi and Dharmadhvaj. Tulasi wanted Lord Krishna to be her husband. At an early age she went to the Himalayas and undertook harsh penances. Brahma approached Tulasi and told her that her desire would be ultimately and eternally fulfilled. But first she would have to marry a demon named Shankhachuda. It is only through this marriage that Krishna would come to her.
In Goloka Shankhacuda lived as Sridama and Tulasi as Viraja. Sridama was madly in love with Viraja but she had her mind set on Krishna. Once when Viraja was intimate with Krishna, Radha appeared and cursed Viraja to live on earth. Radha also cursed Sridama and he became Shankhacuda. 
 
Shankhacuda was invincible as long as Tulasi kept her chastity. Once, while her husband was away, Krsna disguised Himself as Shankhacuda and was intimate with Tulasi. When she realised what had happened she cursed Him to be a black stone. He in turn cursed her to be a plant but They would be eternally united.
 
In some ISKCON temples this occasion is celebrated with great pomp.

 Tulsi-Vivah legend

New Vrindaban’s Thanksgiving Weekend Schedule
→ New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

Everyone is invited!

Thanksgiving-Dinner

Thursday Nov. 28 is the “real” Thanksgiving Day for the U.S.A. and there will be a sumptuous  Thanksgiving feast for everyone who comes that day.

In addition, we will have a full, three day Thanksgiving program the weekend following Thanksgiving Day, namely Fri. Nov 29, Sat. Nov 30 and Sun. Dec. 1. SCHEDULE BELOW.

There will be such features as a swing festival for Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Vrindaban Chandra, and sacred storytelling with our long-time resident, professional storyteller, Sankirtan das, as well as  a seminar about worshiping Lord Krsna in your home.

Hare Krsna!

THANKSGIVING UPDATED SCHEDULE 2013

 

Why worship the cows?
→ Dandavats.com

The meaning is within the words – Govinda, Gopi, Govardhana, Goloka Vrindavan. It is clear these are the greatest. Govinda is Lord Krishna, the protector of cows, Gopis are the highest devotees, Govardhana is the best servant, and Goloka Vrindavan (“go loka – the abode of the cows ”) is the highest destination . The meaning is obvious. There is nothing without the cows. They all serve cows. Cows are the dearest to Lord Krishna, they are His deities. This is the highest form of worship of Lord Krishna and available to only a very select few devotees. Even this knowledge is very rare – most people don’t understand the exalted position of cows, they see cows as animals. People who serve Krishna ’s cows are the most fortunate and achieve all results. Read more ›

Understanding the Intro of Caitanya Caritamrita (Adi 1.30-)
→ The Enquirer

The first fourteen verses of Caitanya Caritāmṛta are extremely important. The author, Krishnadās Kavirāja, will explain them systematically and thoroughly over the first seven chapters of the biography.

Verses 15-29 were a very brief summary explanation of those fourteen verses. Let’s pick up the narrative from the 30th verse of Chapter One:

He pays his respects to all the Vaiṣṇava readers, and says “Now I’ll fully describe the meaning of all these (fourteen) verses. Please listen with a one-pointed mind, because I will define Krishna Caitanya with through reasoning and authoritative evidence.”

He again explains that the absolute truth is a singular entity fully expressed in six facets:

  1. Krishna
  2. Guru (The entity who reveals Krishna)
  3. Bhakta (The entity who loves Krishna)
  4. Shakti (The power through which love is expressed)
  5. Avatāra (the forms of Krishna that descend into the world)
  6. Prakāśa (the forms of Krishna that are fully brilliant)

He says that he hasn’t jumped right into explaining them – first he made a humble glorification of them so that he could recieve the blessing of their mercy, which is the only way the absolute truth can be fruitfully discussed.

He repeats the first verse of the fourteen, in which he offered his respects to the six aspects of absolute truth. He identifies Śrī Krishna Caitanya as the absolute truth with six aspects.

The first of the aspects he will enumerate more clearly is the “Guru” aspect. He offers respects to “mantra-guru” (in singular) and “instructing gurus” (śikṣā-guru-gaṇa - in plural). In ISKCON and many modern settings, it’s common to refer to the mantra-guru as the dikṣa-guru. He names his instructing gurus: “Śrī Rūpa, Sanātana, Bhaṭṭa-raghunātha; Śrī Jīva, Gopāla-bhaṭṭa, Dāsa-raghunātha.”

Next he more elaborately specifies the “Bhakta” aspect. He offers “countless respects to the feet of all the devotees of Bhagavān, amongst whom Śrīvāsa is very important.”

Next he respects the “Avatāra” aspect (skipping the Śakti aspect). He offers, “countless obeisances to the lotus-feet of Advaita Ācārya, the Lord’s aṁśa-avatāra.”

Next, the “Prakāśa” aspect. He says, “Nityānanda Rāya is the brilliant manifestation of the Lord’s own form. I am a servant offering praise to his lotus-feet.”

Out of order, he specifies the “Śakti” aspect. He says, “Gadādhara Paṇḍit (and others) are the Lord’s own śakti. My thousands of respects are at all of their feet.”

Finally, also out of order, he specifies the “Prabhu” (Lord) / “Krishna” aspect. He says, “Śrī Krishna Caitanya Prabhu is Bhagavān himself. My infinite respects are at his lotus-feet.”

Now we are up to the 43rd text. Here he says that he’s respected all six facets of the Absolute Truth, so he can now begin explaining them. He will begin with the “Guru” facet. We will discuss that section next.


Glorification and distribution
→ KKSBlog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 10 February 2013, Simhachalam, Germany, Srimad Bhagavatam 9.1.34)

Sometimes, making money took over. There was a time when the feeling was that if we sell records, then we will make more money than with books. So we started to sell records and sometimes we would do books. Then of course, you know, paintings make more money than records so we started to sell paintings. Some sold Krsna paintings and some sold any paintings, Hong Kong paintings. Then carpets made more money than paintings!

book distribution_ukAnd before we knew it, it was business and business! I remember these things going around the offices – a roll of paintings and then girls in the office who liked the paintings but there was no time in the day so you made an appointment for the evening, to visit them at home. Then together, you sat on the carpet looking at the paintings and sometimes she liked the paintings a lot but she liked you even more! We lost a few brahmacaris in those days (laughter!). There were some casualties in this program. 

So we went for the money but this was not Prabhupada’s idea. Prabhupada’s idea was that we become absorbed; we become absorbed in glorifying Krsna. We read the Bhagavatam and as we distribute the book, we glorify the book! We take elements of the book, we glorify it and distribute the book on its merit – that is the key – and not with salesmen tricks. In this way, the purity of the book distributor is guaranteed and then the movement has strength.